Toy Soldier
by AZGirl
Summary: At first, Angus hadn't thought much of the gift he'd received, but later on he decided it was perfect. Pre-series.
1. Chapter One: The Gift

**Spoilers:** References to 2.12 Mac + Jack.

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"To this day, I have the most fond memories of some of my old toys." ~~~~~ Michael Keaton

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 **Chapter One: The Gift**

 _March 2001_

Angus hadn't thought much of the gift at first. His grandfather's friend from their Army days had come to visit just in time for his birthday, giving him a gift he wasn't all that excited about because it was not anything he would normally play with. Besides, he was getting too old for action figures now that he was ten.

It had been several days since his birthday, the day he found out his dad had left for good, and he still wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone – not even his best friend. He was barely speaking to his grandfather, barely eating or sleeping, and had outright refused to go to school, choosing to remain in his room the majority of the time. His grandfather, after yet another argument and more empty threats, finally gave in and had allowed him to stay home from school for the week on the condition he do all of his homework. He'd have to make it up to his grandfather for having to go to his school to get the week's assignments.

The gifts he'd received had been left in a pile in the corner of his room closest to his door. He'd not even wanted them in there reminding him of his dad's abandonment, but his grandfather threatened to throw them away. He couldn't bear the thought of having his best friend's gift, a new Sega Genesis game, being thrown into the garbage, so he'd brought them all into his room and had dumped them into the corner. By day three of his self-imposed seclusion, he couldn't stand the untidy pile any longer and decided to put his gifts away. He'd decide what to do with them later, though he did resolve to play the game Bozer had given him at least once, knowing how long his friend must have been saving up for it.

As he put the items away, he examined each one, finally getting to the action figure his grandfather's friend had gifted him. He never did get the older man's name, because he had been busy watching out for his dad's arrival, and only remembered muttering a hasty thank you.

Angus sat on his bed and opened the box, taking the action figure out of it. When he'd received the gift, he hadn't really paid attention to the box's label and had only just noticed the action figure was a sergeant in the Army. It was dressed in green fatigues, and came with a helmet, hand gun, and rifle. He wasn't a big fan of guns, even toy versions, so he immediately put them back in the box the action figure had come in. He carefully looked over the rest of the uniform and was surprised by how much work had gone into it to get the kind of detailing he was seeing.

He started to put the soldier back in the box, but stopped midway and pulled it out again as a feeling of unease came over him. For some reason, despite it being a toy, the soldier made him feel safe now that his dad was gone. It wasn't completely rational, but Angus guessed it was because that's what soldiers did – protect. Protect their country, its citizens, and their fellow soldiers.

Standing up from his bed, he walked over to his desk and sat down in the chair. Soldier toys weren't really his thing, but the safety and protection this one represented somehow, for reasons he did not understand, made him feel better. He knew it was a toy, and knew it couldn't actually keep him safe, but that oddly didn't matter to him.

He manipulated the soldier's arms and legs so that it could sit on the far corner of his desk against his bedroom wall. The location gave the soldier perfect sight lines over his whole room.

Angus leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands, simply looking at the soldier. It came to him that he should give the toy a name. Calling it "soldier" or "sergeant" all the time seemed weird. His mind went through at least 20 names before he decided to call the solder "Jack."

Jack didn't magically solve all his problems, but the sense of safety, of being watched over and protected helped him get through the days, weeks, and months that followed after his dad left. Every day, when he got home from school, Jack was there waiting for him. Jack never left his post on the corner of his desk. He liked being able to count on Jack always being there for him.

Jack's right hand had been shaped to be able to hold either of his guns, but after a while Angus started to see the hand differently – as if it was waiting for him to fist bump it. So he did. The first time he fist bumped Jack, he almost knocked the action figure onto the floor and he laughed, feeling ridiculous. Yet, he kept doing it just about every time he greeted Jack as he sat down to do his homework.

For six years Jack faithfully kept watch over him – until he went away to MIT. He'd seriously thought about taking Jack with him, but knew he couldn't risk the ridicule if anyone saw the action figure.

Reluctantly, he packed Jack away after one last fist bump and finished preparing to leave home for MIT.

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 _August 2011_

It wasn't until after his temper had cooled down from his less-than-ideal introduction to his new overwatch that Mac really took in the guy's name.

Jack.

His overwatch was named Jack just like…

What were the odds he'd get paired up with someone with the same name as the action figure he'd had as a kid? It was a weird coincidence, one that he couldn't help but find amusing.

And simply because the guy's name was Jack, Mac found himself wanting to cut the older man some slack.

It didn't take long for him to see that the real-life Jack was a protector – a fiercely protective man, regardless of the fact they didn't much get along at first. Mac found he felt safe with the older man around.

As he got to know Jack over the last 64 days of the guy's deployment, Mac thought about telling the older man about the action figure named Jack, but he didn't think it would go over very well, kind of like a pregnant pole vaulter*. They were slowly getting along better and better, and he didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize their fragile peace and fledgling friendship.

Gradually, Mac came to rely on the older man's presence, the sense that he was protected as long as Jack was with him despite knowing it wasn't going to last. Jack's 64 days were almost up and Mac found he was going to miss the sometimes-annoying Texan.

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 _October 2011_

Waiting in the Humvee for his new overwatch to show up, Mac thought about Jack – both of them – as he fashioned a paperclip into a large arrow. He thought about how lucky he'd been to have had two Jacks in his life – even if one of them was only a toy.

When the real-life Jack surprised him by returning – and staying just to keep watch over him, Mac had no idea what to think about that.

Gratitude was the first thing to come to mind, and he held out his fist silently asking for a fist bump. When Jack bumped his fist against his, Mac smiled and thought about Jack the toy soldier. The fist bumps with the toy had been a joke at first, and then a habit.

Now they were a sign of his and Jack's – the real-life one's – friendship and partnership. Mac knew as long as Jack was around he'd be protected.

As they drove out into the desert, Mac decided to tell Jack – the real one – about Jack – the toy soldier – when they got back to base.

He thought the older man would get a kick out of the story.

But more than likely, Jack would just tease him about it.

And Mac found he was okay with that.

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 **A/N:** Inspired by a tidbit from the episode 2.02 "P911" of Criminal Minds. In the episode, a kidnapped boy had a soldier action figure that he named Jack and claimed that it protected him.

* _"he didn't think it would go over very well, kind of like a pregnant pole vaulter_ ": I didn't come up with this; it's actually a paraphrase of something someone I know says on occasion.

Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are Murdoc's fault.

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Chapter Two: Epilogue

**A/N:** The epilogue features James MacGyver and only mentions Mac and Jack.

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 **Chapter Two: Epilogue**

 _April 2001_

James hung up the phone.

His son's grandfather was still livid with him for having abandoned Angus on the boy's tenth birthday, but it couldn't be helped, and then it seemed like the best for everyone going forward. However, despite the animosity between them, Angus's grandfather was willing to keep him updated on his son's life.

He had called fairly regularly over the last few weeks to see how his son was adjusting to the changes in his life. Angus's grandfather had spent a lot of time letting him know just how badly his son had been handling things during those first few days.

And then he was told about the action figure of a soldier Angus had named Jack and how it seemed to help with the adjustment somehow. His son was too old for such toys, and was too old to think they could be of any real help, but there wasn't really much he could do about it. Except for the updates he got from Angus's grandfather, he needed to keep a zero profile in his boy's life.

However, he would still be there in the background nudging Angus, course correcting his son whenever he felt it was necessary. For now, a stupid toy was nothing to worry about, and didn't alter his ultimate plans for Angus.

The kid could keep the toy for now.

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 _July 2011_

James decided he couldn't wait any longer. There was no denying his son was a trouble magnet and needed some kind of overwatch sooner rather than later if Angus was going to make it out of the Army alive.

His plan had been to pair Angus up with his soldier counterpart after his son had been hired by the DXS, but James realized he might have to accelerate that timeline and have them meet before he'd planned. For the time being, until he could find the perfect candidate, he would draw up a short list of qualified soldiers and get someone over to be Angus' overwatch ASAP. He would find someone permanent to partner with his son at a later date.

The next day, he was assessing the list of soldiers he thought might be able to do the job. Some were only a few of months away from being discharged while others still had more than a year to go. All of them were qualified, some more highly than others, and had good service records.

Considering the pros and cons of each man, he was able to narrow the list down to a few possibilities, but had yet to decide upon one.

James sighed and looked down at the soldiers' files once again, and something caught his eye. Up until now, he had cared only about the soldiers' service records, and not their names. This time though when he read their names, a faint memory stirred.

It was something he remembered from when Angus was younger… Something about a toy…an action figure? Yes, that was it. An action figure. One his son had named, which he had thought was a ridiculous idea at the time, but had done nothing about it. Even more ridiculous was how long Angus had held onto that toy, when he had been too old for such things after his tenth birthday.

If he remembered correctly, that toy was named Jack, and he just so happened to have a soldier named Jack on his list of possibilities.

Based on what Angus's grandfather had told him back then, James was certain Angus would be more open to dealing with someone named Jack because of that stupid, childish toy. His son was always a little too sentimental for his own good, so it was perfect despite the fact that this… _Jack Dalton_ …had less than three months left in his deployment. Based on the man's record, this was the best it was going to get on this short of notice until he could find the next person to watch over his son when Dalton was discharged.

James reached for his phone. He had a transfer to arrange.

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 _The end._

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Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are Murdoc's fault.

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_


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